While hiking in the Smokey Mountains, we came upon a huge vine. Imagine if it could talk. It could tell you of the civil war, the revolutionary war, and countless stories of people who had passed by on the trail. Jesus said to the disciples, "I am the vine."
Pinocchio needed someone to keep him on the straight and narrow. Jiminy Cricket was Pinocchio's conscience. It was his song that most of us remember best from the Walt Disney film, "Give a little whistle, give a little whistle and always let your conscience be your guide."
The pilot announced: "A third engine has failed. Don’t be alarmed. We can make it to the airport on one engine. However, we will arrive an hour late." One passenger turned to another and said, "Boy, I hope that fourth engine doesn't fail, or we will be up here all night!"
A religious cynic once said, "God made humanity on the last day of creation. When God realized what He'd done, He took off and went into hiding." Wrong answer! When God created humanity, God said it was "Very good." God didn't take off and go into hiding. God made Himself totally accessible to man.
In this gospel, form follows function. If your purpose and your practice are the sublime beauty of Christ’s love, you will reject the ugliness of sin. If you are guided by the Spirit of Truth, you will not be false. Truth and beauty: These are the gifts of the risen Christ. These are the presence of the Holy Spirit.
My fondest memory of my mother will always be Christmas and underwear. Mom always checked to make sure we had put on clean underwear, "in case we got hit by a bus." Don't ask me how that could help but it was one her rules. At Christmas, Mom always gave us underwear and socks.
Jesus actually makes it sound like it will be to their advantage that he is gone, and that he will send the Spirit in his place. And maybe it was. You see, Jesus knows something they don't know. He knows that God cannot be seen or explained. God can only be experienced.
This is a day of thanksgiving for the love of mothers. Mother’s Day isn't a high holy day, but maybe it should be. Mother’s Day not only affords us the opportunity to give thanks for our mothers, but it’s also a time to reflect on the “mothering” attributes of our God.
Luther Bridgers' house burned to the ground. It not only destroyed all of his earthly belongings, it claimed the life of his wife and three little boys. In the face of such a devastating loss, he wrote, "There's within my heart a melody, Jesus whispers sweet and low."
(This sermon was delivered to a group recovering from alcohol and drug addiction.) When I was in the second grade, a nun said, “Well kids, you see, God is sort of like your own father--only he’s bigger and he knows everything that you do.” And from the back of the room I shouted, “Holy Shit! … I’m dead!”